Dwayne Johnson hails Smashing Machine co-star Oleksandr Usyk

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson relished working with Oleksandr Usyk on The Smashing Machine.

The 53-year-old actor stars alongside the 38-year-old boxer in the new sports drama movie, which is based on the career of former UFC champion Mark Kerr, and Dwayne has revealed that he cherished shooting scenes with Usyk.

The wrestler-turned-actor told talkSPORT: "The first time I lock up with Usyk, we are full on locking up and we went through the whole fight scene.

"I knew then, when I locked up with him and I felt his embrace in this lock up. I knew this is a bad dude."

Dwayne confessed to feeling a little bit intimated by the heavyweight champion, who is widely considered to be one of the best boxers of modern times.

He said: "Usyk can be a little deceptive, just how he looks. But when he locks up, that deception becomes reality because I'm like 'oh this is a bad guy.'"

Dwayne also recalled being wowed by Usyk's speed and athleticism.

The Hollywood star shared: "You could feel it in his legs and in his base, and then we start sparring at the top of our fight. Couple of jabs out there and he is so fast, and you know if one of these punches slips. I'm going to hospital!"

Despite this, Emily Blunt, Dwayne's co-star in the movie, revealed that Usyk loved to indulge on some unhealthy snacks on set.

The 42-year-old actress - who previously worked with Dwayne on Jungle Cruise, the 2021 Disney movie - said: "He wanted to eat [cake] all the time.

"It just made me laugh.

"The lovely PA was like 'Alex, we need to get the fake sweat on you again' and he hated the fake sweat.

"He was like 'Why?' as he didn't understand continuity and she was like 'If I get you some cake, will you do it?'

"And he goes 'Yes' and so they would get him some cake."

Meanwhile, Emily and Dwayne have confirmed that they're keen to work with each other again.

A Jungle Cruise sequel was confirmed by Disney back in 2021, and Emily and Dwayne have revealed that they're looking forward to the project.

The actress - who also starred alongside Jack Whitehall and Jesse Plemons in the original movie - told Variety: "I feel like we gotta do something else now. I’m like, ‘What else?'

"Call Disney. Get us back on that boat."

Dwayne loved making the original Jungle Cruise movie, and he can't wait to reprise his character.

He said: "We’re calling those guys tonight. We had so much fun."